Data from the National Center for Education Statistics’ B&B study describe not only what kinds of occupations humanities college graduates pursue (see Indicator III-3, Occupations of College Graduates Who Majored in Humanities Disciplines) but also the quality of their work experience. The salary and job satisfaction data presented here were collected in 2003, ten years after survey respondents had left college.

At approximately $48,000 (2007 dollars), the median salary of humanities college graduates (Figure III-4a) was higher than that of arts majors and those with degrees in the “helping fields” (social work/public administration and education). At the same time, however, it was notably lower than the $55,370 median salary for all college graduates and was also substantially lower than the incomes of students who majored in the natural sciences, engineering, business, and law, all of whose median salaries were greater than that for the 1993 cohort as a whole.

Figure III-4a, Full Size Supporting Data

In spite of these differences in level of compensation, the academic fields all reported similarly high average levels of job satisfaction: 87–93% of respondents with degrees in each field described themselves as being “generally satisfied” with their jobs (Figure III-4b). Regarding the more specific question of whether their current employment afforded them opportunities to use their education, approximately 80% of humanities majors said that it did. The majority of these graduates also reported that their jobs provided opportunity for advancement. The only groups to report substantially higher levels of satisfaction with this aspect of their 2003 jobs were biological and physical science majors.

Figure III-4b, Full Size Supporting Data

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